"What it means to forgive your enemies"

A challenging and important article from Relevant Magazine about what the author calls, "the most unreasonable thing Jesus says." A sampling:

Loving your enemy does not mean you have to add them to your Christmas list, or make them your best friend. It doesn’t mean you excuse their actions. It means you forgive them, with the knowledge that God is both merciful and just.

Read the whole thing.

When Someone is Hard to Love

The words of Jesus on which this Our Daily Bread post is based are really hard to put into practice! In fact, we can only do it in the power of God's Holy Spirit. Many of you know that one of the prayers I pray when needing to deal with people who have hurt me, but knowing that Jesus commands that I love this neighbor as much as I love myself, is: "Lord, in spite of how I feel, love this person through me." It seems to work. And often I find, without noticing that it's happened, God brings me to the point of actually loving that person.